I was not familiar with Lineapelle, the Milan trade fair for luxury leather. For three days this massive gathering focuses on the real work of fashion, sourcing. Designers come here for the purpose of searching for the materials. The cavernous halls filled with suppliers big and small showing desired skins to clients.
After gathering my thoughts together, I had to hit the ground running. The public sees the fashion shows, the glitz and glamour of the industry. Lineapelle is where the real business starts. So many tanneries, different leathers, ways to stitch, number of pieces, quality of the skin. In one day after speaking to attendees and exhibitors I had the equivalent of a one-year university course from the best fashion university. Experienced professional colleagues explained many details involved in the transforming a skin component to a sought-after product. For not only small items, interior design requires a high degree knowledge and skillset. For instance, upholstery leather gets wrapped in order fit a living room sofa or car seat.
Leathers have different characteristics, various suppleness, grades. The dying techniques used to color skins can range from simple to complex. The process of pattern printing leather intrigued me. A designer used this practice to design a youthful collection shown on the Lineapelle runway.
Farmed animal skins are traced from beginning to finish. The sustainable aspects of using quality leather explained to me in one sentence, “A good leather endures.” Quality controls employed by brands and producers for certain products. I discussed the recent bag scandals. The “masstige” handbags made under questionable circumstances are not produced in the same factories as the more prestigious items. Expensive skin handbags are put together in closely monitor controlled conditions by experienced craftsmen. An alligator skin’s one-piece skin can cost thousand of dollars versus a cow skin which costs far less. As mentioned earlier, the stitching methods used for exotic leathers are more intricate.
After attending my first Lineapelle, I have a new appreciation for well-made leather products. Buy better!
